New USGA rule: Viewers can no longer call in moving-ball penalties

Television viewers can no longer call in moving-ball penalties from their couches and change the course of professional golf tournaments, according to a new rule announced by the USGA on Tuesday.

The USGA and R&A – golf’s governing bodies - announced Decision 14-3/18 and it goes into effect Jan. 1.

In a statement, Thomas Pagel, the USGA senior director of rules of golf, said: “The rules of golf are constantly evolving. The decisions review process is an opportunity for the R&A and the USGA to continue to help make the game understandable and accessible for players, officials and others who participate in the game.”

Slight ball movement captured on high-definition televisions and not to the naked eye will no longer be used to invoke two-stroke penalties, so fans can put take golf officials’ numbers off their speed dial.

Tiger Woods was involved in perhaps the most famous two-stroke penalty issued through the eyes of a viewer of high-definition television at the BMW Championship. That would no longer be a penalty. Woods was moving debris around his ball when the ball was shown moving via a high-def camera. Woods was assessed the penalty in the scoring trailer after his second round.

ETC

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